It's looking great Ric.
Was that with the barrel free floated?
It's looking great Ric.
Was that with the barrel free floated?
Yes, the barrel is free floated, with the front receiver ring and chamber bedded.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
Rick
Will you talk about how to deal with drying checks that you routinely get in stocks with knots or high figure? I have watched this from your first post, you are doing great work.
I too think this is a great project in a great chambering.
Looking good bud thanks for posting the work.
Reloading to save money I am sure the saving is going to start soon
I needed to put on the sling mounts yet, so I finished those up. I like to locate the positions, then drill a hole for one end. I then put in a screw, to help hold them in position. I then drill the second hole, and put in the last screw. Then I am able to scribe around the base, and have my inletting lines. I use small chisels to do this job. I inlet them so I have just a very thin layer of wood standing above the metal, to come down to. I then index the screws, and file them flush.
At this point, I'm ready to start sanding, and refining the final lines. I use a needle file to make the shadow line on the cheek piece crisp. I always sand the curved parts of the stock first, and then do the flat surfaces, to bring out the definition on the lines I want to stand out.
I leave all the metal on the rifle to start the sanding, so I am able to see that I have the surfaces perfectly mated. I will take these contact points down to a final sanding level, so I do not need to touch them again after I remove the metal. The only metal I leave on completely through the sanding operation is the grip cap, mainly to guard the delicate edges.
I put on a very thin sealer coat today. That doesn't mean I'm ready to finish the stock. What this does, is to show me the areas where I may need to sand more, and helps show any lines that aren't flowing well. So, tomorrow, it's back to sanding, and a little wood removal from the butt yet.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
I hate dealing with those. If they are very deep, I use Acraglas and a thin probe to work it in as deeply as possible. If you have an orbital sander, you can hold the oscillating pad to the stock, to help release air bubbles, and get better depth with the 'glas.
I suspect this is the best bond you will get to the wood.
If it is a place where it will be exposed when finished, I tackle it a bit differently. I will use the Acragel, dyed black. Trust me, make it black. This is assuming a walnut stock, or one that will be stained dark. If using walnut with any kind of good grain at all, I really dislike the idea of using any type of stain, as it hides any beauty in the wood.
An oil finish is the best to bring out the colors in the wood. Better to let age darken it a bit, rather than having something that looks like a WW2 relic. With something like maple, you can use leather dyes to match the finished color.
After it has set up, I will remove about 1/16+" from the surface of it. I want it below the wood surface.
I like to put on at least one coat of finish at this time, two is better. I then start putting a drop of Super Glue in it, a drop at a time, and let it dry. I use a thin dental probe to do this, to really control where the glue is going.
Keep adding, until it stands proud of the surface. Sand down, and put on your next coat of finish. This leaves a transparent black looking repair, that generally blends in very well with the stock. If you just use the Acragel, even with it dyed, it will be an ugly gray color, that will not match the rest of the wood. That is what was in this stock when I got it, that I removed to re-fill.
Your other alternative, is the stock filling method I showed earlier in this topic.
Maybe some one else will chime in with some better ideas.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
Certainly not better ideas, just another string on the bow. I have used the walnut plug as you did but have sometimes ( depending on size and location) mad a plug with as close a grain match as possible and shape it just smaller at the surface so that there is room for a bit of araldite (two part epoxy glue) mixed with enough walnut dust to darken it so there is what may look like a tight bark pocket arround the walnut plug. this means the plug can be slightly different and still look as if it is part of the origional blank.
Enjoying the work Waksupi. Joni is sure going to have a treasure when it is done.
Von Gruff.
Von Gruff.
Exodus 20:1-17
Acts 4:10-12
Only thing wrong with it is the cheek rest is on the wrong side!!
Chris
Μολὼν λαβέ
"Si vis pacem para bellum"
You know, you are absolutely right!
I thought it might be a mistake.
Other than that, a great job! Good metal work, good wood work.
It will be a real beauty.
Lookin forward to photos of the targets.
About that lost case - my Dad's wisdom, heard frequently. "You will find it just where you left it." Ya kno, he was usually right!
Wayne the Shrink
There is no 'right' that requires me to work for you or you to work for me!
I find that most things aren't lost, they're just misplaced to various degrees.
Lynn, here is a picture of the butt pad. It comes up a couple degrees. Let me know, and I can change it if you like. Also, a picture of the magic wand stuff.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
The workmanship of someone who's know's and care's what they're doing is very evident.
Awesome job there Ric!
RRR
"I Make the part.............................that makes the parts"
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Cool magic wand!!!
It's looking great to me.
Thanks Rick,
Your discussion of the ugly gray look is what I was dealing with. I ended up working hard to get rid of it. I actually made a walking varmiter in 22-250 and decided the drying checks did not bother me and the stock was mechanically sound os on went many coats of hand rubbed english oil. One day I will properly finish the stock and I will use the wisdom gleaned from here to aide in that pursuit.
Your project is coming along very nicely.
Monday, I finished polishing the metal, and took it to town for bluing. I have been working on doing the stock finish, and have applied around a dozen coats, rubbing them out with 0000 steel wool between coats.It's looking pretty good. Today, I sent it out to be checkered. With any luck, everything will come back together next week.
When you finish a stock, you get finish on the butt pad. The way to cure that, is some mineral spirits, a rag, and a little bit of rubbing.
P.S. After you rub out a stock with 0000 steel wool, give it a good rub down with plain white paper towels.
Last edited by waksupi; 04-21-2011 at 08:47 PM.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
Wow, that is beautiful! Great job! The wood grain really pops out with this finish. It looks great.
It looks great, better than I had figured the grain would look and the shaping is quite nice.
I had expected the metal back, but it seems the gunsmith that is doing it, deemed it a good idea to take Easter weekend off, to spend with his family. I can't blame him for that at all, it was the first nice weekend we have had so far this year. He only blues on the weekends, when he can close the shop and not be disturbed, so this will probably be ready early next week.
The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"
Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!
The nice thing about this is that there are no time constraints. It's ready when it's ready.
I appreciate the update. Thanks.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |